When you are stuck at a point in your writing(as I am right now lol) what do you do for inspiration? I need some ideas.
Looking for inspiration
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I am looking for the "I wrote 1,000 words today thread." That's where I am looking for inspiration.
Here's what I do. I look at the forums here. There are some struggling new writers in the Share Your Work Threads. The missing thing is description. I just picked up a couple books on description and I am seeing the need and the quest for it everywhere.
I am stuck on what to do? Write or read about writing description?
(pause)
Time to write another thousand words. Please tell us if you ever find your inspiration.
Here's what I do. I look at the forums here. There are some struggling new writers in the Share Your Work Threads. The missing thing is description. I just picked up a couple books on description and I am seeing the need and the quest for it everywhere.
I am stuck on what to do? Write or read about writing description?
(pause)
Time to write another thousand words. Please tell us if you ever find your inspiration.
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It depends on why you're stuck. If I can't figure out where the story's going next, I always take a week or so off writing altogether. I can't force what won't come. I read, I exercise, I do mindless things in order to let my dinosaur brain recharge. Soon the ideas will flow again.
You might be stuck because other things are occupying your time now, personal issues, family demands, wotnot. That's a little harder to solve.
I have found a number of free-thought exercises that help me begin to write again. Some are "write something that contains these three ideas" projects. One of the books I'm re-reading now has writing exercises that help you brainstorm the world, characters, and plot of a larger project like a novel. I have a notebook specifically for my WIP and the notes, mind-maps, and writing exercises that are helping me shape the overall story.
It helps me just sit down and write, as Susan said.
It helps me just sit down and write, as Susan said.
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A lot of things can help, though it depends on what you're writing and why you're feeling stuck.
Taking some time to dream about the plot and characters is good, if you're stuck for the direction or just the inspiration to continue - which is where I am off and on with my WIP as I plot while I go for the most part. I find going for long walks helps, where I think it through in a lazy-dreamy-focussed way. Lying in the park in the sunshine and letting my thoughts wander.
Reading supposedly unrelated things only to realise they aren't unrelated at all. haha. Removing the pressure to be perfect and letting it sit for a bit, while working on something else just for fun.
Good luck!
Taking some time to dream about the plot and characters is good, if you're stuck for the direction or just the inspiration to continue - which is where I am off and on with my WIP as I plot while I go for the most part. I find going for long walks helps, where I think it through in a lazy-dreamy-focussed way. Lying in the park in the sunshine and letting my thoughts wander.
Reading supposedly unrelated things only to realise they aren't unrelated at all. haha. Removing the pressure to be perfect and letting it sit for a bit, while working on something else just for fun.Good luck!
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I find sometimes changing venues works pretty well. Today I was stuck on something. I printed it a bunch of pages, shoved them in one pocket, stuck a pen in the other, and took a walk. I spent a good fifteen minutes of the walk thinking, then I took the pen and pages out and started making notes and rewriting. It helped. Other times, moving to another part of the house does it, or switching from computer to pen and notebook.
Not exactly 'inspiration', I guess, but it's something that helps clear up the jams.
Not exactly 'inspiration', I guess, but it's something that helps clear up the jams.
Read. I've found consistently that if I get stuck, it means I need to pick up a book that is in roughly my category - a good one - and read. Inevitably by reading another novel I figure out things about my own.
Someone once asked William Faulkner if he writes when he's inspired or if we writes on a schedule. He famously answered, "I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o'clock every morning."
If you commit to write every day, your inspiration will come. It may not come at the first moment, but the more you learn to sit your butt down to actually do the work, the more the inspiration will come.
The ideas will come at unexpected... and expected times.
Seriously... just write. Even if it's bad, just write. It'll come.
Edit: And yes, when you're not writing, read.
If you commit to write every day, your inspiration will come. It may not come at the first moment, but the more you learn to sit your butt down to actually do the work, the more the inspiration will come.
The ideas will come at unexpected... and expected times.
Seriously... just write. Even if it's bad, just write. It'll come.
Edit: And yes, when you're not writing, read.
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I have rather the opposite problem--stopping to decide which of my half-dozen ravenous plot bunnies needs feeding first.
That said, I can tell you that the come from lots different places. Recently, as a horror writer, I've been looking up viral internet rumors and urban legends, including unexplained photographs and "apocalyptic logs." My subconscious likes to cook those things.
Other times, they come from music I really like, including music videos and album covers, or, depending on how visually flamboyant the artist is, photoshoots they've done.
Also, if/when I see a movie that utterly disappointed or annoyed me, sometimes I imagine how a different plotline could have been wrung out of it, or make up a backstory to a one-off character that I found more interesting than the protags.
Sometimes the ideas come straight from dreams.
That said, I can tell you that the come from lots different places. Recently, as a horror writer, I've been looking up viral internet rumors and urban legends, including unexplained photographs and "apocalyptic logs." My subconscious likes to cook those things.
Other times, they come from music I really like, including music videos and album covers, or, depending on how visually flamboyant the artist is, photoshoots they've done.
Also, if/when I see a movie that utterly disappointed or annoyed me, sometimes I imagine how a different plotline could have been wrung out of it, or make up a backstory to a one-off character that I found more interesting than the protags.
Sometimes the ideas come straight from dreams.
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I keep a writing log of sorts. When I'm stumped on a scene, I write the question I'm looking for answer. Sometimes I'll use it also to play around with ideas that I may or may not use. I may also type something like, "What other part of the story is causing this?" Sometimes I find that simply identifying the problem is enough to get my mind working on it.
If I'm stuck because I'm not sure what happens next I keep writing, whatever occurs. What is MCs motivation, what is he desperate for? Make him try to get it. What about character X? etc etc
Sometimes I go off on a false trail - this happened yesterday, but the important bit is the act of writing makes the alternatives, the right way, pop into my head. So I back tracked a couple of hundred words, tweaked them (motivations, a few actions and dialogue words changed. Maybe 100 words cut, and 100 or so added, so no biggy) and bingo, now I know where I'm going.
So write, whatever it is.
Shall I tell you a little tale? A certain writer couldn't work out what to write. Utterly blocked. So he sat at his typewriter (hey, it was a while ago) and started to write about the wall in front of him. Then the room he was sitting in, then the house, then the street...then he wondered what the street would have been like when it was built. Then, with that inspiration, Mr Doctrow wrote Ragtime....
Sometimes I go off on a false trail - this happened yesterday, but the important bit is the act of writing makes the alternatives, the right way, pop into my head. So I back tracked a couple of hundred words, tweaked them (motivations, a few actions and dialogue words changed. Maybe 100 words cut, and 100 or so added, so no biggy) and bingo, now I know where I'm going.
So write, whatever it is.
Shall I tell you a little tale? A certain writer couldn't work out what to write. Utterly blocked. So he sat at his typewriter (hey, it was a while ago) and started to write about the wall in front of him. Then the room he was sitting in, then the house, then the street...then he wondered what the street would have been like when it was built. Then, with that inspiration, Mr Doctrow wrote Ragtime....
If I get stuck, and not just because I'm being lazy and don't feel like writing but actually stuck, then it's usually a pretty good sign that I'm trying to force the characters or plot in a direction they don't want to go. Once I stop and let things move naturally the words start flowing again, although often in directions my plan wasn't expecting!
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Honest to goodness, what I do is retype the last one to two pages.
Print them out, delete them from the ms and retype them in word for word with no editing. By the time I'm done with the retyping, I have my momentum, I'm back in the groove of writing and just keep going.
Print them out, delete them from the ms and retype them in word for word with no editing. By the time I'm done with the retyping, I have my momentum, I'm back in the groove of writing and just keep going.
When I lack inspiration it's often because I am grappling with a point I am not sure of--so perhaps I have two alternate ideas on how to resolve a plot point. I thrash it out with my husband or the 16 year old gifted kids I teach until I am happy that I am heading the right direction, and then I am eager to just go and write it! Lucky I write YA, otherwise the kids wouldn't be as useful!
A few years ago I picked up on a whim a thing called The Observation Deck, which touted itself as helpful for giving inspiration and getting people out of writer's block. I pulled it out again after reading your post.
It's basically a deck of cards that you pull from. Each one has a short phrase like "Explore the Underside" or "Eliminate Words" or "Consult the News". It has a small companion book that gives a 2-3 page explanation of each phrase, and ideas based on the phrase that can help you get unstuck.
I've only used it a couple of times (I suffer more from procrastination and unclear planning than from lack of inspiration), but when I did use it I had NO problem getting back into the swing of my story.
There are probably lots of similar things out there on the Internet that can help, and are free. I hope you become "unstuck" soon!
It's basically a deck of cards that you pull from. Each one has a short phrase like "Explore the Underside" or "Eliminate Words" or "Consult the News". It has a small companion book that gives a 2-3 page explanation of each phrase, and ideas based on the phrase that can help you get unstuck.
I've only used it a couple of times (I suffer more from procrastination and unclear planning than from lack of inspiration), but when I did use it I had NO problem getting back into the swing of my story.
There are probably lots of similar things out there on the Internet that can help, and are free. I hope you become "unstuck" soon!
I interview a character. If he's not cooperative, I interview a different one. Be careful though, each character will declare he is really the protagonist. It's because they are the protagonists of their own stories. Don't be fooled. (And if you have a secondary character who doesn't try to claim to be the protagonist, he's probably passive or flat).
The thing with interviews is you have to let the character "talk" even if he's trying to tell you the events or plot are different from what you think. Sometimes we get jammed when we treat a character like a plot paperdoll, trying to "make" him do things he isn't motivated to do.
Another thing I do is read something tangentially related to the story. For example, my WIP is set in the early '70s. For inspiration I went to an antique store and picked up some periodicals from the same time frame. There is a huge difference between filtered nostalgia or our generally accepted cultural touchstones, and what stuff was actually like back then. For a contemporary story, do some casual reading of material related to the subject, themes or the main character's interests.
Something else I'm trying that's new to me, but really helpful, is a big, color coded spreadsheet. It's sort of free-flowing with hunks of lists in different shapes: Time periods in the book, the various characters, physical objects, slang terms, stuff I need to research. I've probably not described it well. The point isn't to create something just like it, but create something that reflects what you're trying to write. Kind of like a corkboard with inspirational items tacked to it, it's a non-linear representation of story elements and context.
Good luck getting unstuck!
The thing with interviews is you have to let the character "talk" even if he's trying to tell you the events or plot are different from what you think. Sometimes we get jammed when we treat a character like a plot paperdoll, trying to "make" him do things he isn't motivated to do.
Another thing I do is read something tangentially related to the story. For example, my WIP is set in the early '70s. For inspiration I went to an antique store and picked up some periodicals from the same time frame. There is a huge difference between filtered nostalgia or our generally accepted cultural touchstones, and what stuff was actually like back then. For a contemporary story, do some casual reading of material related to the subject, themes or the main character's interests.
Something else I'm trying that's new to me, but really helpful, is a big, color coded spreadsheet. It's sort of free-flowing with hunks of lists in different shapes: Time periods in the book, the various characters, physical objects, slang terms, stuff I need to research. I've probably not described it well. The point isn't to create something just like it, but create something that reflects what you're trying to write. Kind of like a corkboard with inspirational items tacked to it, it's a non-linear representation of story elements and context.
Good luck getting unstuck!
Changing writing locations always seems to work for me. It gets me thinking in new directions. I usually write at one particular library, and often in one particular spot. When my writing slows too much, sometimes changing seating in the library helps. Sometimes going to a totally new library helps even more. Sometimes, alas, I find that I have gone to a terrible library where people can be as loud and annoying as they want to be, and all my writing time for that day is hot. LYNNWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY, I AM LOOKING AT YOU.
I'm stuck not knowing how to go on. This happened recently so I started to write a different scene, now I've come a point in that scene where I'm stuck. I have other scenes I can write if thats the best option
It sounds as though you are having trouble deciding which direction to take any particular scene. You've started two and hit a roadblock with each of them. Do you know the root objective of each of these scenes and how it relates to the overall story? What are you trying to accomplish in the scene? How does the scene move the story along? How does the overall scene effect the MC or other characters in the scene/story? These are the questions you need to ask yourself. If you do not have the answer then you might be trying to write the 'wrong' scene. If the scene does not really connect with the whole story, you might be going in the wrong direction with either the scene or the story.
I am pretty much a linear writer, though, so writing a scene here and another from 'over there' is kind of alien to me. I percieve the concept and pretty much know the beginning and how the story ends. I have a pretty good idea of how the characters get from point A to point Z. There are, of course, many adjustments after the first draft is completed but, overall, the story is there for me so the scenes follow a natural progression. They write themselves to a certain extent. (It's the re-writing that I have to deal with, after the muse has merrily run off to some hiding place.)
AmsterdamAssassin
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I walk through Amsterdam, sit by a canal and think evil thoughts. Most of the time that gets me in a murderous mood, which is excellent for writing...
Usually I'm stuck because I'm not sure where I'm going next. At that point, I start a new page, jotting down all the plot points I have stored away, then try to put them into a logical order and fill in the blanks. Invariably, some ideas will pop up; at least enough to get me through another chapter or two, and I get excited about the WIP again.
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